…from the annual Oakleaf Camp. And still dead tired, despite having nine hours solid sleep.
But it was mostly fun.
What I didn’t like:
The unending drumming. If anybody wondered why I never appeared at the fire, that was the reason – I don’t like having to listen to hours of mindless skin-thrashing. Even away from the fire I still couldn’t escape it, as the sound carried all over the fields; on Saturday night, it actually precipitated one of my thankfully rare panic attacks and I had to sit in the car, amidst blessed silence, working at staying calm until the 11pm curfew. (Have no drumming fans ever wondered why the military through the ages have used massed drumming as a weapon?)
What I liked:
The Green Man, wandering around proudly painted and naked all weekend. Not actually doing anything, except reminding us all what the event is about.
The Black & White Ball – who’d have guessed that a bunch of scruffy pagans could scrub up so well? It was a delight seeing all those smartly-dressed people attempting to waltz and cha-cha in a rutted field; and the sight of the MC, perfectly outfitted in white tie & tails and shiny shoes, elegantly performing a formal dance with an invisible partner, will stay with me.
The Wickerman ceremony. It was a blast from beginning to end! I somehow found the breath to dance around the circle at least four times; and the energy was palpable. It just about cancelled out all the grief from the bl**dy drumming!!!
Oh, and Nikki Noo-Noo (well, that’s what everybody called her the whole weekend) “aspergating” in the Roundhouse like she had been a priestess for years, instead of a non-pagan who had just been roped in to officiate. Well done, Nikki!